Hinge for artificial legs



R. R. BODE. HINGE FOR ARTIFICIAL LEGS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 25, I919.

Patepted Apr. 20, 1 920. /f/

WITNESSES "n'nrrnn san rns PATENT onnron ROBERT RUDLAND BODFI, OFHONOLULU, TERRITORY OF HAWAII.

HINGE FOR ARTIFICIAL LEGS.

Application filed November 26, 1919.

T aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT RUDLAND Bonn, a subj ect of the King of GreatBritain, and a resident of Honolulu, county of Honolulu, and Territoryof Hawaii, have invented a new and Improved Hinge for Artificial L Legs,of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact description.

This invention relates to a hinge. More particularly it relates to hingeconstruction providing a soft and yieldable back stop for hinges.

An object of the invention is to provide a hinge fitted with a soft padbufi'er or stop which will render the closing operation of the hingesoft and resilient, eliminating all closing sounds of the hinge.

Vith the above principal objects in View the invention has relation to acertain combination and arrangement of hinge parts taken in connectionwith a stop or buffer pad, an example of which is described herewith,pointed out in the appended claim, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, where- 1n:

Figures 1 and 2 show reverse sides of an example of my hinge.

It is a particular purpose to provide a hinge which may be used in theconstruction of artificial limbs for the human body, and which will havea soft and yieldable closing action, rendering less tiring, the use ofartificial limbs. The use of hinge will render unnecessary the use ofthe back check usually employed on artificial legs.

Figs. 3 and t show reverse end or edge views of the hinge.

Figs. 5 and 6 show sectional views taken through the hinge member.

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of one hinge member with the back stoppad removed.

In the drawings, the numerals 1 and 2 designate the hinged leaf membersconstructed similar in design to the ordinary hinge. One of the hingeleaves is provided with a projecting ear 3 with a bore formed in thecenter part thereof. The other hinge leaf is provided with a pair ofprojecting spaced ears 4 with a bore adapted to register with the boreof the ear 3. A hinge pin 5 is passed through the hinged ears, thusestab- Specifieation of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

Serial No. 340,781.

lishing thetwo hinge leaves in a pivotal relation one upon the other.The hinge member 2 carrying the single ear is provided with arcuateshoulders adjacent the outline of the ear 3. The projecting ears 4': ofthe member 1 lie in abutment with the shoulders thus forming a closejointed member. The hinge leaves are provided with extended back stops 7and 8 adapted to limit the motion of the hinged members. One of the backstops is grooved as designated by 9 and a stop or bumper pad 10 isformed the same cross sectional shape as theshape of the slot or groove9. The slot and bumper pad will preferably have angular disposed wallsso as to retain the bumper pad within the slot of the back stop toprevent its possible displacement from position. The stop or bumper padis pressed into the slot 9 with the upper edge of said pad projectingslightly above the surface of the back stop.

hen the back stops of the hinge come together in a closed motion abumper pad receives the impact of the back stop of the adjacent hingeleaf and prevents the grating contact of the two back stops of the hingeleaves. The bumper pad will be made of rubber, leather, fabric or othersuitable material or compositions of material such that the pad willproperly compress under the closing action of the hinge leaves.

This form of hinge provides a soft and easy working member capable ofuse in many ways. It can be put to effective use in artificial limbswhere the soft, flexible and resilient operation of joints is essentialfor the operation of artificial members appurtenant to the human body.This form of hinge may also be used in various other ways, and on otherarticles of manufacture and commodities where noiseless hinges areneedful. This type of hinge will be no heavier in weight than the usualform of hinge. It can be built in various forms and designs, the presentdesign of hinge being illustrated merely for the purpose of showing apractical embodiment of my idea.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

A hinge improvement for artificial limbs comprising, parts to beresiliently hinged together, a back stop formed on each part, earsspaced apart and projecting outwardly from each part to be hinged, saidears provlded inserted through the bearing hole of the ears, and abumper pad fixed to one of the back stops to form a resilient seatagainst Which the back stops impinge, said pad be- 10 ing locked withina dove-tail groove made in the back stop.

ROBERT RUDLAND BODE.

